Trump-Kim summit: US president blames failure of talks on North Korea's demand for sanctions to be dropped
Follow the latest updates on the historic meeting
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Your support makes all the difference.Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un have cut short their talks in Hanoi, Vietnam and skipped a scheduled lunch event.
The White House confirmed the summit had ended with “no agreement reached” as the leaders headed back to their respective hotels.
The US president talks broke down over North Korea’s demands on US-led sanctions.
“Basically, they wanted the sanctions lifted in their entirety, but we couldn’t do that,” he told reporters. “Sometimes you have to walk.”
Sarah Sanders, the White House press secretary, said negotiations would continue at a future date.
Several Democrats came out acknowledging Mr Trump’s decision to walk away without a deal was the right move in this situation. Democratic Congressman Adam Schiff said walking away with no deal was better than agreeing to a bad deal, before adding that it was “the result of a poorly planned strategy.”
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer echoed similar statements, citing his concerns about the likelihood of a bad deal forming out of the summit.
“A deal that fell short of complete denuclearization would have only made North Korea stronger & the world less safe,” Mr Schumer said.
After the summit, Mr Trump also defended Mr Kim over the tragic death of American college student Otto Warmbier, who was jailed in North Korea in December 2015 for attempting to steal propaganda material during an organised tour.The president said he does not believe the autocratic leader was aware of Mr Warmbier’s condition in the North Korean hard labour prison camp.
"He tells me he didn't know about it, and I will take him at his word,” Mr Trump said.
After two years of imprisonment, North Korean authorities returned Mr Warbier to the US in a coma in July 2017. A few days later, the 22-year-old died in his hometown of Cincinnati, Ohio.
Ohio Senators Sherrod Brown and Rob Portman criticised the American president’s defense of Mr Kim.
“I’m very concerned that the President didn’t seem to be all that concerned about the murder of Otto Warmbier from Cincinnati,” Mr Brown told reporters on Thursday. “I don’t know how he says he likes the dictator of NK so much.”
Mr Portman insists that Mr Trump and the American people must remember Mr Warmbier and that “we should never let North Korea off the hook for what they did to him."
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Donald Trump tweeted the following video from his first day of meetings with North Korean regime leader Kim Jong Un, just as his former attorney was delivering his opening remarks to the House Oversight Committee about the president's supposed criminal conduct:
Here's my report featuring Jon Wolfsthal, former senior director for arms control and nonproliferation at the National Security Council under Barack Obama, about Donald Trump allegedly undermining negotiations surrounding the denuclearisation of North Korea.
The Independent's Sarah Harvard will now be taking over the live blog.
In his congressional testimony, Michael Cohen called out the irony of Mr Trump being in Vietnam.
“I find it ironic, Mr. President, that you’re in Vietnam right now,” Cohen said in his testimony, in reference to Mr Trump avoiding serving in the Vietnam War.
It is currently around 11pm in Hanoi. A White House official told CNN that the president is expected to stay up overnight to watch Cohen's testimony.
The Associated Press released a statement condemning the White House for banning journalists from the Donald Trump's dinner with Kim Jong Un.
AP spokeswoman Lauren Easton said the news organisation “decries such efforts by the White House to restrict access to the president. It is critically important that any president uphold American press freedom standards, not only at home but especially while abroad.”
North Korean chefs prepared Donald Trump's dinner with Kim Jong Un. Their main entree was grilled steak with a pear kimchi paired with a non-alcoholic dried persimmon punch digestif.
Kim Jong Un impersonators have been making appearances in Hanoi. Some of them have interacted with Vietnamese police.
Republican Rep. Vicki Hartzler posted a tweet noting that it has been 457 days since Kim Jong Un conducted a test missile launch:
Democratic Senator Bob Menendez made a slight jab at Donald Trump while appearing on MSNBC today.
“It’s good to see that President Trump finally made it to Vietnam," the New Jersey senator said, referring to Mr Trump dodging the Vietnam War draft.
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